Box-seal.



E. J. BROOKS.

Box SEAL. APPLICATION FILED APB.21, 1909. 1

Patented July 6, 1909.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD J. BROOKS, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

BOX-SEAL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, EDWARD J. Bnoons, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of East Orange, in the State of: New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in, BoxSeals, of which the followingI is a specification.

This invention relates to the combination of metallic seal parts and box straps as means for sealing wooden packing cases or bones so as to insure the detection Vof any opening thereof for the abstraction of the contents or of any tamperingI therewith. Examples of such box seals are set forth in my previous specification forming part of United States Letters Patent No. 847276 dated March 12, 1907, and previous speci'iications therein referred to, and in my previous specification forming part of an application for United States Letters Patent filed March 3, 1909, Serial No. 481201.

In companion saeciiications forming part of ap ulications for nited States Letters Pat-- ent fi ed March 19, 1909, Serial No. 484347, and March 20, 1909, Serial No. 484662, I have set forth means whereby to render such box seals nailless, and thus to provide for using a single box strap if desired with a sinH gle seal part located centrally on the box cover or on the bottom or one of the ends or sides, or in any desired position, without endangering the contents of the box at the sealing operation.

The leading object of the present invention is to provide for sealing wooden boxes in the manner set forth in said companion specifications by means of a nailless boa; seal includ ing a seal part of improved construction in connection with which, the box strap may be of lighter metal than would otherwise be practicable; and this invention consists in a novel combination of parts and in the novel construction of its seal part as hereinafter more particularly (lescribed and claimed.

A sheet of drawings accompanies this specification as part thereof.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wooden boX sealed according to the present invend tion; Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively a top view and an edge view of one member of the improved seal part and Figs, 4 and 5 are like views of its other member, as they appear before being united; Fig. (i is a sectional edge view on a larger scale of the two members of the seal part in process of being united; Fig. 7 is a like sectional view of the seal part as it Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led April 21, 1909.

Patented .Tuly 6, 1909.

Serial No. 491,271.

leaves the factory Figs. 8 and 9 are sectional elevations illustrating the sealing operation; and iiigs. 10 and 11 represent magnified sec* tions through the coi'nplcted bei; seal in cluding the subjaeent boir cover or like wood en box portion.

Liire reference characters refer to like parts in all the figures.

ln carrying this inveiition into effect a nietallic seal part, a, and a metallic bo\r strap, l, are employed :in connection with a box-strap tool or tightenei, parts of which are represented at d, e and f in Figs. S and 9, and a suitable sealing tool, g, Fig. 9.

The seal part a is composed of two meinbers, 1 and 2, both of which are preferably and conveniently dish-shaped and readily stamped complete from tin scrap or like inexpensive sheet metal. The top member, 1, Figs. 2 and 3, is formed with a circumferential rim, 3, and its flat top, 4, is conveniently embossed at the stamping o eration with permanent distinguishing mar rs represented by "A. B. C. Doe in Fig. 2. The other seal-part member, 2, Figs. 4 and 5, has a thin marginal edge, 5, adapted to be securely held within the rim 3 when the latter is turned in to form a circumferential seam, 3', perinanently uniting the seal-part members, as in Fig. 7 and Figs. 10 and 11. At the middle of this member is a rectangular offset portion, 6, formed by slitting the sheet instalas represented at 7 and 8 in Fig.` 4, and pressing down the substantially square and iiat portion between the parallel slits to form a passage way, 9, iitted te the overlapped ends 1 and 2 of the box strap b. It will be understood that said top portion 4 and said bottom portion 6 of the seal part a (Fig. 7) are both iinperforate until the sealing operation hereinafter described.

The bex strap I) may be cut from a continuous length of any suitable strap iron or like ilat 'metal or metallic ribbon, and re quires no preliminary treatment. llt may be of lighter metal than would otherwise be practicable owing to the construction of the seal part a as above described.

The tightener represented in Figs. 8 and 9 is or may be of the construction set forth in said previous specilication forming part of said application Serial No. 481201, and the arts represented in Figs. 8 and 9 are the slotted shaft of the tool, represented at d, a cross bar of the frame beneath said shaft, represented at e, and a cross bar at the front edge of the frame, represented at f. For the purposes oit the present invention said cross bar e beneath the winding sha'it may be provided with a spur, 10, which is driven through one of the box-strap ends, 1, into the Wooden box cover c or a like wooden box portion to preliminarily and temporarily fasten the box-strap end for the tightening operation. Otherwise the tool may be of the construction set forth in said previous speci'lication forming part of said application Serial No. L181201, or of any suitable known or improved construction.

The sealing tool g represented in Fig. 9 is or may be an ordinary nail punch having a sharp `tapered point, 11, a cylindrical or equivalent portion, 12, immediately above the point, and, preferably, a stop shoulder, 13, by which the penetration oi' the point is limited.

After passing the box-strap t loosely around the box (Fig, 1) in the desired position, both box-strap ends 1 and 2 are threaded through the seal part a. The tightener de-f is then applied so as to drive its spur 10 through one end, 1, of the boxstrap into the wood of the subjacent box portion c, and thus to preliminarily i'asten that box-strap end for the `stretching operation. The other box-strap end, 2, being uppermost, is drawn beneath the front cross barf of the tightcner, and temporarily interlocked with the shaft d by threading it through the slot of the latter and bending its extremity to resist withdrawal as represented in Fig. 8. The shalt (Z is then turned in the direction represented by the arrow a, Fig. S, until the box-strap i') is under sufficient tension to embed it in the box corners, at least, as set forth in said previous specification last referred to.

With the box-strap h under such tension, and the seal part a in the desired position, the sealing tool g is applied as in Fig. 9, and a blow on its upper end by means oi a hammer or the like drives the point 11 and shank 12 oi' the sealing tool through the flat top 4 oi the seal part a, through the two strap ends, 1 and 2', and through the flat bottom 6 of the seal part, and completes the sealing operation. The stroke oi the sealing tool is represented by dotted lines in Fig. 9, and the ellect oi' the tool, which is immediately removed irom the box, is represented by Figs. 10 and 11. After removing the sealing tool g, the shalt d of the tightener is turned backward, as represented by the dotted arrow b in Fig. 9, to unwind the box-strap end attached thereto; the tightener is then also removed, and the loose box-strap end is cut pitiE close to the seal part as represented in fio: 1.

Feferring to Figs. 10 and 11, it will be seen that in the manner above described locking portions 11 and 12 of the top and bottom of said seal part a and of both ends of the box strap l) are simultaneously made to project rigidly downward at substantially right angles to the top oi the box portion c, and to interlock with each other and with the wood of the box portion around an empty permanent indentation so as to securely seal the box without the aid of a nail driven through the seal part and the box-strap ends, as in said companion specifications. A single sealed box strap may in the above manner be located between the ends oi the box as in Fig. 1, or between the sides or between the bottom and top of the box, as there is no seal nail to be driven through the cover or like box part into the ends as heretofore. The box-strap and seal part may also, of course, be otherwise arranged, and may be duplicated or multiplied if desired. The indentation by which one box-strap end is preliminarily fastened as above described is represented at 14 in Figs. 1, 8 and 9 and the empty permanent indentation left in the wood by the sealing tool g is represented at 15 in Figs. 10 and 11.

rlhe permanent distinguishing marks of the seal part may obviously be produced by printing or the like instead of by embossing the metal the seal-part members may be oi' other analogous shapes if preferred; and other like modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

I do not claim herein the Within described method oi sealing Wooden boxes without the aid of nails; nor, broadly, the combination with a wooden box and a superposed metallic box strap under tension, having overlapped ends, of a metallic seal part embracing the overlapped ends of said box strap and having a portion parallel with said box-strap ends, said box-strap ends and said portion oi the seal part parallel therewith having locking portions projecting rigidly at right angles to the subjacent surface of the box, and interlocked with each other around an empty permanent indentation in the wood of the box, whereby a nailless box seal is formed, but hereby disclaim the same in favor oi: said companion specification forming part of said application Serial No. 1184347 hereinbefore referred to.

Having thus described said improvement, I claim as my invention and desire to patent under this specication:

1. The combination with a wooden box and a superposed metallic box strap under tension having overlapped ends, of a seal part composed of two sheet-metal members permanently inter-locked with each other by a circumferential seam, the top of one of said members being provided with permanent distinguishing marks and the other member with a rectangular oii'set bottom portion 'forming a passageway for said overlapped ends of the box strap, said box strap ends andthe top and said offset portion of the seal l forate disk-shaped top and a substantially part having locking portions projecting1 rig square and im erforate Hat bottom, offset idly at Substantially right angles to the subbetween paralle slits `in the metal, forming a jacent box surface, and interloeked with each box-strap passage between said top and bot- 5 other, whereby a naiiiess box seal is formed. tom7 substantially as hereinbefore speeiiied. 15

2. A11 improved seal art for naiiless box seals composed of tWo smet-metal members p EDVARD J' BROOKS' permanently united with each other by a eir- Witnesses: oumferential seam and Constructed respee- CHARLES LURIGH,

1o tively with a substantially flat and imper- ELIZABETH VON SIEFARD. 

